Today the dust settles on another election and a campaign season that

Today the dust settles on another election and a campaign season that was familiar in many ways – television attack ads as annoying as other people’s out-of-control children, the ubiquitous yard signs that threaten to stay up until Christmas.

Especially in Atlantic County, where their numbers have increased significantly, Asian Americans were courted by candidates as never before. Both Republicans and Democrats attended events to woo Asian voters in the county.

The U.S. Census Bureau says the nation’s Asian-American population grew 46 percent between 2000 and 2010, the fastest growth rate of any racial group. Much of this growth was among South Asians, people from such countries as Bangladesh and Pakistan, whose population in the U.S. doubled in that 10-year period. About 68 percent of Asian Americans old enough to vote are U.S. citizens.

Atlantic County’s Asian-American population grew 63 percent from 2000 to 2010, and now represents 8 percent of county residents.

As their population grows, Asians are becoming more politically active, making it clear that they have come here not just to work, but to participate fully in American democracy.

Ideally, of course, politics shouldn’t be about ethnicity or skin color.

That’s why it is heartening that these new voters do not vote in lockstep. Residents from different parts of Asia are not politically homogeneous, even within their own ethnic group. Asian political activists make it clear that neither party can expect automatic loyalty based on ethnicity.

Some of this diversity is because the Asian-American population is relatively new. About eight out of 10 Asian-American adults are foreign-born. And, as University of Southern California political science professor Jane Junn told Press staff writer Wallace McKelvey, that means Asians do not have long histories of supporting one party or the other.

Which means candidates have to engage with Asian voters and their community groups. And the influence this gives the Asian community is likely to increase.

So far, the political clout of Asians has been somewhat limited by language barriers. The American Community Survey says one in three Asian Americans have limited English proficiency. As that changes, we should expect more Asian-American candidates and more influence from a group that has so far demonstrated political independence.

But one thing relatively new in this election locally was the growing evidence of the political clout of Asian Americans, a welcome degree of influence that seems destined to grow.